SOS: Serious Overload of Series discussion

I think several people are interested in reading this book in May. I know Sarah is hoping we'll wait until May 21/22 after she graduates (Good for her!). That should work for me. What does everyone else think?

Might join you on this one, been on my wishlist for awhile. When is memorial day weekend this year?

Memorial Day is Monday the 28th.

Thanks! That's my book chillin' weekend, reading by book light by a campfire. But no Internet :(. If we squeeze this one in before I'm good.

I'm good with waiting until end of May!! Woo hoo, excited to finally get around to reading this!!

Ooooh I've been meaning to read this for awhile can I join in?

Of course, Paris! The more the merrier.

Sweet. I just put in my request with the library. This will totally get me to get off my butt and actually read a book on my TBR list that's been there longer than a month.

Waiting till the end of May works for me, gives me a chance to pick it up.

I'm in as well :)

I'll go ahead & slot it into a May challenge, and it won't matter to me when we read it.

Definitely in, my first buddy read!

Cool I'm in too!

Thanks to Leah for suggesting this one. This should be a fun buddy read with so many people participating. It looks like a tentative start date around May 21

Christine wrote: "Thanks to Leah for suggesting this one. This should be a fun buddy read with so many people participating. It looks like a tentative start date around May 21"

Haha no problem, it seems like this is a book a lot of people have been trying to motivate themselves to read. Now we can all motivate each other! :)

count me in too...I have it sitting for the past year wanting to be read....

Are we starting this one Monday?

Yup, as far as I know the start date is Monday :)

Yay, just downloaded and ready to go...

Yep, I'm all ready to go!

OK your Monday will be my Tuesday :D

I'm ready to go as well, though hubby has taken Monday & Tuesday off work, so we'll see whether I actually get to start it then :)))))

Awesome I'm ready for it too!

Yay, I've had this book for at least a year (probably longer) so it needs to get off my TBR! lol

I'm about halfway through and it is quite a quick read I find. It's not really grabbing me that much, as I find Sabina to be quite unlikeable (and bitchy). What does everyone else think so far?

Only a couple of chapters in, but she is kind of hard to like so far.

I'm only two chapters in so it's to early to say how I feel about her. But I do find it interesting that the author has made all vampires red-heads. I always knew there was something special about red heads.

Hehe I found that redhead part pretty funny. I really like the demon Gighul later on, he's hilarious.

I am only a few chapters in, but I like the world building so far, and I like Sabina. I, too, think the red-head part is interesting! I can't wait to find out what kind of shananigans Sabina gets into.

The demon is about to appear, but I wasn't happy with the knocking off of David. It's pretty obvious where the story is going to go and who the bad guys are gonna be.

I too liked the red-headed connection. LOL.

I'm a little over half way through and I really like Sabina. Clovis creeps the hell out of me! I'm intrigued by Adam, and I want to know more about him. All of the possibilities that can arise from Sabina's situation make me want to finish the book to see what happens!

I only made it to page 60 before I fell asleep, right in the middle of a chapter. The writing hasn't really grabbed me yet, but it's still early in the book for me.

I liked the demon, too. He seems to have a lot of potential for comic relief. But she's incredibly tolerant to let a demon that tried to kill her hang out in her apartment. And use her credit card.

My big question so far is: If it's forbidden for vampires and mages to mate, then how did Sabina come to be?

I've just started this and I've got to say, it's not really grabbing me so far. Christine, I agree, the writing isn't particularly mesmerizing as of yet. But, like you, I've only just started so I will try and withhold judgement!! I should power through some more of this today, will post as I go along :)

Random (or not so) question: Since all vampires are red-heads and Sabina's mother was a vampire and her father was a mage, does this mean that in this series vampires are born and not "turned"?

I'm guessing that none of them are turned, but are born. I finished the book last night and there was no mention of people being turned.

I actually enjoyed the whole book and found it to be a very quick read. I really like Sabina and Adam, and I'm happy with how the book ended. I'm actually interested in reading the next one in the series.

@Christine, her parents get explained more later on in the book. But from what I got before it was explained was that they got together in secret, her mother got pregnant, and as a result her father was killed and her mother had died (I'm not sure she was killed but I wouldn't put it past Lavinia to have it done).

I just finished the book last night too, it was a quick read but the writing didn't really grab me. If it wasn't for Gighul, I would have found the story quite run of the mill and bland to be honest. It seems there isn't really a large depth of emotion in this one, even when (view spoiler)[Sabina found out that her Grandmother had been lying to her all along (hide spoiler)]. Even though she's a kick ass assasin, it seems she was way too trusting of others and letting them into her life, including Gighul, Adam and even Clovis.

It's a 3 star read for me, not sure if I'd continue with the rest of the series. Here's my review of the book.

Don't worry, it doesn't contain any spoilers.

I just got to the part where she meets her new roomie, Vinca. She doesn't know this woman, this woman could very well be a spy for Clovis, but she tells her (view spoiler)[that the cat is really a demon. Isn't that the kind of information you would want to keep secret? (hide spoiler)]

Yeah I found that part a little strange as well, it's almost as if Sabina's character doesn't really fit what the author has painted for her? She does it quite a few times throughout the book.

The part where she met Gighul and let him stay in her apartment was slightly shocking too. I mean, no matter who he says he is, he tried to kill her and she just lets him off the hook?

I guess looking back that does seem strange, but at the moment I just thought it was hilarious that he took her credit card and bought stuff from informercials. I don't think it was necessary to keep the fact that Giguhl the cat was a demon a secret, because Clovis is half demon. Vinca doesn't even care. I don't think Clovis cared either, plus it's apparent later that he doesn't even know about Giguhl.

Strange how Vinca knew about it (view spoiler)[and we found out that she was a spy but ultimately Giguhl was the one who took care of Clovis in the end? (hide spoiler)] Guess there's quite a few inconsistencies.

My book featured an author interview at the end, and she says she had a clear characterisation for Gighul at the start, which is probably why he's the standout character.

Guess I'm playing catch up now, only 1/3 of the way thru. Not grabbing me yet, but has picked up with meeting Clovis. Her demon buddy is a hoot.

Lis wrote: "Guess I'm playing catch up now, only 1/3 of the way thru. Not grabbing me yet, but has picked up with meeting Clovis. Her demon buddy is a hoot."

I'm at about page 150, and I have to say I don't really like Sabina. So far she just seems like a huge downer. And why isn't she more curious about things?? (view spoiler)[ A giant white owl is following her around and she just thinks 'Weird.' Also, Adam the mage offers to have her meet her Hecktate family and she's not interested at all? Especially after how whiney she is in her thoughts about being a half-breed??? Cmon! (hide spoiler)] I swear, if Sabina wasn't forced to be social and meet people, she would do nothing!

I just reached the 100 page mark and I'm finding this book a little slow. It might be because I don't really feel any kind of attachment to Sabina yet. I'm actually quite annoyed with her because she doesn't seem to ask enough questions. David was her mentor and yet she wouldn't even listen to him about why he was changing sides? Yet her grandma is completely embarrassed by her and Sabina of course believes every word that comes out of her mouth.

So far Gighul is the most interesting character, although I feel like I've seen a character like him in many other books.

I'm gonna keep reading because I find the worldbuilding very interesting, but I have a feeling that won't keep me reading the series if Sabina stays the same.

I'm around page 230 and I'm hoping to finish it tonight.

I love the premise of this book. I like the plot. It's got a nice bit of action and I love books that don't take themselves too seriously and mix in some humor, which this one does. It's got a lot going for it. But, it's just lacking something for me. I'm just not feeling an emotional connection with the story or the characters. I'm wondering if it's just suffering from first book syndrome? The writing is decent, but there is just some little spark missing for me.

For example: We're told Sabina is a trained assassin and apparently a very good one. But I can't say I ever SEE her act like one in the book. What highly trained assassin only carries one weapon? And then leaves it behind when they leave a club? That just doesn't ring of a professional assassin. But then, leaving the weapon behind set the stage for the fight in which she first speaks to Adam. So it was kind of necessary to move the plot along. And I've noticed that a few times in the book. Sabina will do or say something that doesn't quite make sense for the character she is to be, but then it turns out to have been necessary to move the plot along to a certain point. This is why I think maybe we're suffering first book syndrome here. The author is still feeling out her characters and how to move them around within the confines of the story.

And there are other areas where she gives a little information on her world but it's just not enough to satisfy my obsessive nature. In the opening scene Sabina is burying her 'dinner'. This suggests that when vampires feed, they kill. Later, she leaves a man "a little lightheaded" from feeding from him. My mind wants to know what the full story is. Do many or some vampires always kill when they feed or do most only take a nip and then move on leaving the person just short a few pints? What about this synthetic blood that was mentioned once or twice? Can the vamps mesmerize humans so they don't remember what happened? Just what are the powers of a vampire, anyway? I've basically picked up so far that they are fast and strong, but beyond that I've no clue if they have other supernatural powers. These are potentially inconsequential details, but they are the sort of thing that add depth and flavor to a book for me, that let me really immerse myself in the world.

And Sabina. Oh, Sabina. She's either being rude, aggressive and stand-offish, or she's trusting and revealing her secrets to someone she just met. On the one hand, she's a half-breed and has spent her life always being treated like less than everyone else. Always the outsider, the undesirable. She hasn't been able to do what she wanted to do with her life, but was instead forced into the life of an assassin. Okay, you'd expect her to be hard and cold given all that. On the other hand, she's also spent her life trying to win the affection and approval of her grandmother (who obviously doesn't deserve it if this is how she treats her granddaughter). So are we to think this desperate need for approval explains why she's so quick to trust and tell people things? I can kind of see where both sides come into play, but I think it could have been handled better, maybe a little more subtly? And again, it's the first book, so how much of this is the author feeling out her character?

Well, that was long-winded.

I just finished up the book. The ending was satisfying, I suppose, definitely set up the plot for the next in the series.

I can't say I loved it. Even though the plot did grab me more by the end, I have to say that I just never grew to like Sabine. Christine, I agree with you. I felt like Sabina's character traits were illustrated to us using plot techniques like a blunt object, not subtle at all.

A few things bothered me. An assassin is supposed to be smart, decisive. Sabine's not decisive AT ALL, and I'm not really convinced she's very smart. The biggest indecisiveness is when she killed David at the begining. She feels no remorse at first, then she feels some, then she feels guilt, then she doesn't care again, all dependent on the particular situation and whatever worked best for the plot. I know she is supposed to be emotional, but it just didn't come across as realistic to me. (view spoiler)[Even at the end, when she decides to join the Hecktate, she does it only because it will make her grandmother mad. Was this supposed to be endearing? I don't find it that way. Also, just seconds earlier she said she didn't want to pick a side by default, but then that's basically what she does. Plus, Adam had to spell out for her all the reasons why she had to join the Hecktate. To me, this just made Sabine look stupid! (hide spoiler)]

Christine wrote: "I'm around page 230 and I'm hoping to finish it tonight.

I love the premise of this book. I like the plot. It's got a nice bit of action and I love books that don't take themselves too seriously..."

Christine, you took the words right out of my head. This is exactly how I've been feeling about the book so far I just could not clearly articulate myself last night (I'm blaming the pain pills I've been on. I'm lucky I didn't just ramble for ever about absolutely nothing). I'm hoping that it's all just first book syndrome, I just don't know if I am willing to give the second book a chance just yet, especially since it doesn't sound like things change at all between where I'm at (page 104) and the end of the book.

I'm right there with you Christine, but have not finished yet. The only addition I can make is that when she was "cleaning up after her meal", she did comment that he was a drug dealer. The later meal in San Fran was just a homeless drunk that she left light headed with a $100 in his pocket.

I forgot to add that I loved the campy theme at the Immortality Winery. While Sabina was ready to stake herself with a corkscrew because she couldn't take it anymore, it really entertained me.

I'm still not done, but since I already have the second one I'll probably eventually give it a try. I think I've got the third one around here somewhere, too. What can I say, I was a little compulsive about using all those Borders coupons. Borders. : (

Finished it. I'm with you, Leah, on the ending. It felt like, "Well, gee, I don't really have much choice, and it will really stick it to grandma, so okay". I would have liked to see her make a more conscious decision to take charge of her life (view spoiler)[She found out she's been lied to her whole life. She spent all this time with Adam, having him train her to use her magic, and come to like him to the point of considering him a friend. Shouldn't she at this point realize that maybe mages aren't so bad and maybe it would be to her benefit in defending herself if she explored this other half of her being? I would think that would be incentive enough. Discovering that you have a half-sister and that there are people out there who may accept you despite your halfbreed status should just be the icing on the cake. I guess I wish she would have come to the realization that she is half-mage and she should no longer deny that side of her heritage. That learning to use her magic would only make her stronger. (hide spoiler)]

And did anyone notice that she and Adam did end up in a red wood forest with drums beating in the background as Vinca predicted. (view spoiler)[I'm sad about Vinca. I liked her. Although, I found it interesting that "harmless" nature fairies were so good in a fight... (hide spoiler)]

Oh wow did not draw the line with that prediction thing at all! (view spoiler)[Vinca had so much more personality than Sabina. It was sad that she had to die.

Mainly when she found out that she had been lied to her whole life, it was so anticlimatic and there was like no emotion whatsoever. It was just like oh okay, these people are telling the truth. If it was me, I would probably be like NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO how could this be?! But yeah, it was just like we were told that was how things were, but there wasn't really any evidence to back that up much.

Also I find it difficult to believe that Sabina's grandmother would have hated her that much. I mean if you were ruthless enough to kill your own mother and her suitor, why bother to keep the child alive because she may 'come in useful someday?' I don't buy it. (hide spoiler)]

I finished this last night and while I still felt no connection to Sabina, I did think the book got better as we got closer to the end, mostly because there was finally some action. I still don't understand Sabina or her motivation or her way of thinking. I'm torn about whether or not I want to read the next book because I'm afraid nothing'll change. Sabina is not the character I feel she could be and there really is so much potential in the characters and worldbuilding of this book.

Christine, I know you mentioned you have the second book in the series, let me know if you read it and what you think. I'm curious to see if Sabina gets better.